Chapter 001: She's Back

Lin Jiu never expected that this would be the outcome she was waiting for in her lifetime.

The sky was covered with billowing dust, presenting a murky gray-black color. The once bustling city no longer existed, with only the remnants of tall buildings and shattered walls. The cracked concrete blocks were covered with densely packed, unidentified plants.

The splendid civilization and technology had almost completely vanished in this global catastrophe.

Lin Jiu didn't have time to think too much. Her water-based supernatural ability had been completely depleted, and she had no food supplies on her. She had to force herself to stay alert and face the unknown deadly dangers lurking in the shadows.

There were no longer any traces of zombies on the surface of the ruins, only occasional low growls coming from the darkness, constantly reminding her of the dangerous situation she was in.

Another level 3 zombie roared and lunged towards her. Lin Jiu rolled to evade, but the prolonged hunger had slowed her movements.

The sharp claws of the zombie tore a large piece of flesh from her shoulder, and blood gushed from the wound. The sound of stones being overturned and something creeping out from the darkness immediately came from the depths of the ruins.

More and more zombies were converging towards her.

There was no doubt that the blood of a supernatural being was highly attractive to the zombies.

"Hehe..."

The scent of blood further incited the ferocity of the level 3 zombie in front of her. Lin Jiu tightened her grip on the Tang sword in her hand.

She wanted to survive... she absolutely couldn't die in this wasteland!

The level 3 zombie lunged at Lin Jiu once again, and the Tang sword in her hand collided with the zombie's arm, producing a metallic clashing sound.

The Tang sword broke, but the zombie in front of her remained unscathed. In a near state of exhaustion, facing a level 3 metal-based supernatural zombie, she had no way out.

The foul mouth of the zombie opened in front of her neck, and blood gushed out as Lin Jiu felt her life slowly draining from her body. The overwhelming hatred surged within her.

She couldn't accept it, nor did she expect to die like this!

She had survived for five years in the apocalypse, escaping death hundreds of times, only to end up in this kind of situation...

No, she should have seen it coming.

In her mother's repeated dissatisfaction and scolding, in her brother Lin Ye's repeated avoidance of dangerous tasks, in Xu Chuchu's awakening of her second space-based supernatural ability and her fiancé's unhesitating submission to Xu Chuchu...

The so-called family she wanted to protect had drained her of her last bit of value and no longer needed her.

She just didn't want to think about it, didn't want to see it, and cowardly acted like a deaf and blind person, like a lowly slave who could be ordered around by anyone. It was all her own fault!

Her boyfriend Zhang Yi's betrayal was the final straw that broke the camel's back.

She couldn't understand. She had almost given everything for this family since she was young, and the only time she fought for herself, she was knocked unconscious by Lin Ye and Xu Chuchu during a mission and thrown into this wasteland to be torn apart by zombies!

If, if there was another chance...

The level 3 zombie excitedly tore at her flesh, and the intense pain made Lin Jiu even more alert.

If there was another chance, she would live only for herself!

If there was another chance, she wouldn't chase after a perfect family that didn't belong to her, wouldn't be controlled by her family, and wouldn't do anything more to gain their approval...

If there was another life, if there was another life!

Lin Jiu opened her mouth, her stomach already twisted, and blood mixed with flesh gushed out from her wide-open throat, rendering her unable to make a sound.

The sharp claws reached into her right eye socket, and blood instantly covered all of Lin Jiu's vision. The blue supernatural core was taken out of her head by the zombie, and the zombie left satisfied.

Without the supernatural core, the flesh and blood of a supernatural being still attracted the zombies. One by one, the zombies jumped out from the dark corners, opening their foul mouths to feast on her body.

"Ah—"

In the intertwining darkness and crimson, Lin Jiu felt her soul plummeting rapidly—she let out a scream and bounced off the bed, her mind blank for a good three minutes.

She had been chewed to pieces by zombies just a moment ago, had become their food, so where was she now?

Was there really a place to go after death... living was just too exhausting...

Lin Jiu's mind was in chaos, with various thoughts bombarding each other. After a while, her vision refocused, and she looked at the room in front of her.

The room was very small, with old wardrobes piled high with plastic storage boxes on top, a large damp patch on the ceiling from a leak, and the peeling walls in the corners.

Wasn't this the small rental she lived in while working?

The apocalypse, right, the apocalypse!

With a start, Lin Jiu climbed out of bed. What had happened?

Struggling, Lin Jiu picked up the alarm clock. November 1, 2118. 2118... Lin Jiu gradually realized, her head was pounding, and her stomach felt uncomfortable. In another month, December 1st, she remembered this date.

This was when the apocalypse broke out, and she had actually returned to a month before the apocalypse erupted?!

She hadn't died, she really hadn't died! She had come back!

Lin Jiu opened the narrow window and looked at the pedestrians coming and going in the neighborhood. The winter sun cast a warm glow with a hint of starlight on her, and Lin Jiu finally felt a hint of reality.

The five years of surviving in the apocalypse now seemed like an unrealistic nightmare.

Alas, she not only did not die in the ruins as they had hoped, but instead returned to the pre-apocalyptic world... What is this? Is it compensation from the heavens for her?

There's nothing for her to be compensated for. Her death in her previous life was entirely due to her own weakness and fault.

Sometimes, even Lin Jiu herself couldn't understand. In her previous life, she was one of the top five in the base's supernatural deputy team, daring to fight and kill level 6 supernatural zombies in a frenzy...

However, once in front of her parents, all her toughness would regress into fragile old paper.

The more unattainable something is, the more one desires it. In Lin Jiu's eyes, family is precious, but in the eyes of "family," she is just a liability, a dog to be called upon and dismissed at will.

She desperately wanted to prove her worth, but in the end, she was nothing.

Even Lin Jiu herself was taken aback by this despicable reality.

If there is a next life, she didn't expect to actually have one.

Lin Jiu touched her aching stomach, pushed open the door, and walked to the communal kitchen to cook three packets of instant noodles.

She still hadn't recalled what had happened in the month before the apocalypse, why she was so hungry... The instant noodles swelled in the hot water, but Lin Jiu couldn't eat a single bite due to her full stomach.

The junk food that was abundant before the apocalypse would become a delicacy half a year into the apocalypse. Those who had never experienced hunger probably couldn't understand Lin Jiu's feelings.

After quickly washing the pot, Lin Jiu returned to her room, took out pen and paper, and began to organize her thoughts.

In the month before the apocalypse, what exactly did she experience?

Lin Jiu forced herself to calm down. Compared to the bloody struggle of the five years of the apocalypse, her early life experiences were almost as calm as stagnant water.

Today is clearly not a weekend, so she should be at work in the company, or out on business. How could she be lying at home... and starving herself like this?

Suddenly, Lin Jiu remembered something. She reached for her phone and, as communication devices had not been restored in the apocalypse, it took her a while to readjust to using the phone. She opened the ticket-purchasing app, which displayed an unused train ticket from B City to her hometown, Z City.

She had worked in B City for over three years, and apart from being a bit tiring, her work had been quite smooth, and she had earned a good amount of money with plenty of commissions. So why did she want to go back home?

In her previous life, she also encountered the apocalypse in Z City, but she couldn't remember why she had returned home for a whole month.

Just as she was thinking, two messages suddenly popped up on her phone, both from someone saved as "Manager Li."

"Xiao Lin, how's your rest? I'm looking into the incident at the club for you..."

"If it doesn't work out, let's just report it to the police. As your manager, I support you in seeking justice for yourself. Don't worry about the other party's identity for now."

Report to the police...

Lin Jiu pondered the content of the two messages, and her memories slowly returned.

She remembered... just last month, she successfully secured a big deal for the company, and the entire company celebrated at the Winter Night Club.

Normally, with her reserved personality, she wouldn't have attended such an event. However, she had learned from the general manager's secretary that she was going to be promoted to sales manager, so with a desire to fit in and being the protagonist of the celebration, Lin Jiu decided to go.

Then, she was forced to drink by the current manager, Sister Fang. Drunk, she had intended to go to the restroom, but was deliberately left in the corridor of a suite by Sister Fang, and ended up entering a room in a daze...

And then, she embarrassingly lost her virginity, which she hadn't thought much about for 25 years.

The worst part was that she had blacked out and had no recollection of the man!

If it had just been a personal loss, it wouldn't have been a big deal. As long as she didn't speak about it, it wouldn't affect her work. But the unfortunate part was that, under Sister Fang's deliberate exaggeration, the incident spread like wildfire in the company.

Already envied by colleagues for her good performance despite her unimpressive education, Lin Jiu missed out on the manager position and, unable to bear the gossip, resigned and returned to her hometown.

At that time, Lin Jiu didn't even have the courage to seek justice for herself.

Thinking about it now, there wasn't really any justice to be sought. The people who could stay overnight at the Winter Night Club were either wealthy or influential, and she had drunkenly entered someone else's room.

Even if she reported it to the police, a week had passed, and even if they found something, as a helpless and ordinary worker, what justice could she seek for herself against someone with a bit of status?

Moreover, a month later, the apocalypse arrived.